Announcements

Depression, Mental Health and Crisis Support
Depression and other mental health difficulties are common amongst people on the autistic spectrum and their carers.
People who are affected by general mental health difficulties are encouraged to receive and share information, support and advice with other forum members, though it is important to point out that this exchange of information is generally based on personal experience and opinions, and is not a substitute for professional medical help.
There is a list of sources of mental health support here: <a href="http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=18801" target="_blank">Mental Health Resources link</a>
People may experience a more serious crisis with their mental health and need urgent medical assistance and advice. However well intentioned, this is not an area of support that the forum can or should be attempting to offer and we would urge members who are feeling at risk of self-harm or suicide to contact either their own GP/health centre, or if out of hours contact NHS Direct on 0845 4647 or to call emergency services 999.
We want to reassure members that they have our full support in offering and seeking advice and information on general mental health issues. Members asking for information in order to help a person in their care are seeking to empower both themselves and those they represent, and we would naturally welcome any such dialogue on the forum.
However, any posts which are deemed to contain inference of personal intent to self-harm and/or suicide will be removed from the forum and that person will be contacted via the pm system with advice on where to seek appropriate help.
In addition to the post being removed, if a forum member is deemed to indicate an immediate risk to themselves, and are unable to be contacted via the pm system, the moderating team will take steps to ensure that person's safety. This may involve breaking previous confidentiality agreements and/or contacting the emergency services on that person's behalf.
Sometimes posts referring to self-harm do not indicate an immediate risk, but they may contain material which others find inappropriate or distressing. This type of post will also be removed from the public forum at the moderator's/administrator's discretion, considering the forum user base as a whole.
If any member receives a PM indicating an immediate risk and is not in a position (or does not want) to intervene, they should forward the PM to the moderating team, who will deal with the disclosure in accordance with the above guidelines.
We trust all members will appreciate the reasoning behind these guidelines, and our intention to urge any member struggling with suicidal feelings to seek and receive approproiate support from trained and experienced professional resources.
The forum guidelines have been updated to reflect the above.
Regards,
The mod/admin team

The bit about him being in a relationship with a zookeeper surprised me a bit, because I'd seen him quoted in press releases by the Captive Animals Protection Society (who are anti-zoos). Then again, just because he gives them the odd soundbite doesn't mean he buys into their entire philosophy. It's a bit like Martina Navratilova lending her support to PeTA's anti-fur campaign whilst turning a blind eye to their blanket opposition to animal experimentation ("Even if it led to a cure for Aids, we'd still be against it").
Here's a rather provocative piece by Chris in his capacity as a zookeeper's significant other: Why killing Marius the giraffe was justified - even though it's a PR disaster

He was fired from Google for arguing that men may be more suited to working in tech than women. Now James Damore opens up about his regrets – and how autism may have shaped his experience of the world
"I see things differently": James Damore on his autism and the Google memo

Sorry if I sound cynical, but when I read this supposedly heartwarming story I had a bad feeling about it:
Sister asks the internet to help celebrate her autistic brother's 21st birthday
Remember Craig Shergold?

I've been turned down.
This is what the DWP said in their letter under the My decision heading:As your needs vary, my decision is based on the help you need most days. You said you can manage taking nutrition, managing therapy or monitoring a health condition, washing and bathing, managing toilet needs or incontinence, dressing and undressing, communicating verbally and reading and understanding signs, symbols and words. I agree you can manage these activities. You said you have difficulties preparing food, engaging with other people face to face and making budgeting decisions. I decide you can prepare and cook a simple meal unaided, engage with other people unaided and make complex budgeting decisions unaided. You said you can manage moving around. I agree you can manage this activity. You said you have difficulty planning and following journeys. I decided you can plan and follow the route of a journey unaided. At your recent consultation you appeared tense however your mood was stable. You were able to effectively engage with your assessor and establish eye contact with them. You demonstrated good long and short term memory and appeared to have insight into your condition. You demonstrated good cognition and were able to give detailed answers to the questions asked. This is consistent with informal observations at your face to face consultation, how you engaged with the assessor and your mental state examination results.

Isn't Young Enterprise meant to cover this? My school was well into YE and in my younger years I was interested in getting involved, or perhaps it would be more true to say I was curious to find out how people went from a concept to running a business. But then late in Year 11 a pupil from the year above gave us the lowdown on what it was really like and I was put right off. She said, IIRC, "You spend the best part of the beginning of the autumn term arguing about what the product is going to be - you discover who your real friends are." (Emphasis added.) I had a suspicion it would be like playing rounders. That is, the most popular people snap up the most rewarding positions whereas I'd get the equivalent of deep-fielder where I'd have ######-all to do most of the time but would still be expected to attend every meeting (and get yelled at if I failed to respond to something coming my way).